Hello,
The SLR ran an "extra" turn out of Richmond this afternoon. As far as I can tell, they ran light engines from Richmond to Island Pond, where they pulled 7 AIMX gondolas from one of the yard tracks. They then proceeded east to North Stratford, where they picked up 20 propane loads that NHCR has brought to the siding there. At 1420, they departed westbound with the following:

RM-1 805
GP40-3 3804
GP40-2 3007
7 AIMX gondolas
20 propane tanks

They reached Island Pond at 1459, where the Richmond-based crew took back over, and continued west at 1502 (3-minute crew change!) and reached the U.S. Canada border at 1542.

Apparently, CN and the union have reached a tentative settlement, and CN trains will resume running tomorrow morning at 0600. I have heard that there are more than 200 cars in Richmond waiting to be delivered to CN. No doubt the many employees and customers (and a few trackside observers) of SLQ/SLR are happy that the strike has ended.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Fritz

Hello,
One other thought, spurred by the CN strike, but more related to the recent announcement that CP is (re)buying the CMQ ...

Given that almost all traffic to the United States on SLR was grinding to a halt with the loss of the CN connection (due to the strike) even though the CMQ connection at Lennoxville was still active ...

There is almost no traffic from CMQ and, via CMQ, CP that moves east on the SLR into the United States. Almost all of the traffic that moves to Island Pond and points east arrives via CN and their connections to the south and west (NS, CSX, UP, BNSF, and, yes, even CP). I would guess at least 90% and probably more than 95% of the eastbound traffic arrives via CN. As far as I know, any eastbound traffic from CP and CMQ is for local customers on SLR, and no traffic is currently routed from CP to ST via CMQ and SLR (which seems reasonable given their direct connection in New York state).

However, there is a fairly healthy interchange of traffic between SLQ and CMQ at Lennoxville, which may represent two "lanes": 1) traffic from CN that is being delivered to CMQ and 2) traffic from CMQ and presumably CP that is being delivered to SLQ for local customers in Quebec (e.g. Domtar, Kruger, etc.).

With CP (re)buying the CMQ, there is the possibility that first "lane" of traffic would be lost, as CN could directly interchange traffic to CP in the Montreal region, rather than via SLQ. It seems likely that the second "lane " of traffic would remain.

Thus, I wonder if this change in ownership will have only minimal impacts on SLR. Any corrections or other insights would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Fritz

SLQ has 100% of the long haul business out of the Sodium Chlorate plant in Magog via interswitch. I’m pretty sure the interswitch rules will mean that all that will need to be interchanged locally still.

NYC27 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:18 pm
SLQ has 100% of the long haul business out of the Sodium Chlorate plant in Magog via interswitch. I’m pretty sure the interswitch rules will mean that all that will need to be interchanged locally still.

Shortlines aren't applicable to C-49 (Interswitching) rules and also if they were this area lies within the Quebec-Windsor corridor. SLR is mostly a paper railroad for CN though, but still within the exemption zone.

The Interchange at Lennoxville is CMQ's paper interchange with CN via haulage rights (same point as above). In theory if this is protected in the deal, CP's nearest CN interchange in the east would be Lennoxville, and depending on the quoted routing, it could still end up being relevant.

CP does have some traffic on SLR, mostly the Kruger paper products. With their expansion into a large tissue market, I suspect there might be a stronger bit of interchange in the future.